20 Years Later
by CSOllie21
Summary: 20 years after Fang, Max decides whether or not to go to the cliff.


**A/N Hello everyone.**

**This plot line is probably very similar to many other fanfics written after Fang. But if James Patterson was going to put that ending in there, i needed to put up my own take on what would happen if they managed to stay apart for 20 years. Which i think we all know can't happen, because if JP writes the next book without Fang, there's going to be a LOT of angry fangirls out there. Me included.**

**So read, review, and enjoy**

**missTinkerbell0221**

I sat on the couch, looking out my window at the Colorado Mountains, fingering the folded, worn piece of paper in my hands. I didn't need to open it, I had read it so many times in the past 20 years, that I've commited every word to memory. But I opened it anyway and read only the last paragraph, after all, today, that was the only paragraph that mattered.

_Tell you what sweetie: if in twenty years we haven't expired yet, and the world is still more or less in one piece, I'll meet you at the top of that cliff where we first met the hawks and learned to fly with them. You know the one. Twenty years from today, if I'm still alive, I'll be there waiting for you. You can bet on it.  
Good-bye my love.  
Fang_

I rubbed his signature absent-mindedly, the ink already faded from this habit I'd developed.

Fang.

That one word brought so many feelings to the surface, a little anger weathered by months of trying to understand, a miniscule amount of bitterness for the years apart, but mostly love, confused by the amount of time spent apart. Well look at me, I sound like a poet! I laughed at myself and raised a shaky hand to my head as I stood up and walked to the ceiling to floor windows that made up one wall of my house. The sunrise was beautiful over the mountains. It was now or never, if I was going I would need to leave now, to reach the cliffs by sundown. Who was I kidding? Of course I was going, I had been waiting for this day for twenty-years. Before I could talk myself out of it, I opened the window and jumped.

As I flew I began second guessing myself. I was going to KILL Fang for making me feel like this. That is, if he actually shows up. What if he doesn't come? What if he's married? What if he has kids? What if? And the What if's kept coming, getting wilder and wilder as I got closer to my destination. Finally, I saw the cliffs in the distance, the hawks flying over them in a black mass, and it brought my biggest fear, the one I had been trying to bury all day, to the front of my mind. What if he doesn't love me as much as I love him?

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, steeling myself for whatever I was about to find, and touched down silently on the cliff. I scanned the area quickly and fearfully, in spite of myself and was devastated when I saw only rocks. He wasn't here. I turned to fly away, tears starting to prick behind my eyes, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eyes. I whipped around and saw a dark figure emerging from behind a pile of rocks and come into the fading light. He was taller than he was at 15, he was a good 4 or 5 inches taller than me now, and he was leaner, if that was possible. The planes of his face were harder, more angular, and his black hair was shaggy, but not long. As he came closer I could see a scar extending from his temple to his chin, and for a moment I felt unexplicable horror. I didn't know this man! Then he smiled my favorite half smile and I saw his obsidian eyes warm considerably and I knew he was still my Fang, and I smiled.

"Fang." It wasn't I question, it was a statement, there was no inflection or emotion in my voice at all, he could make the first move.

"Max." His voice, unlike mine, was warm, like saying my name made him happy. And as he came towards me, I had a split second to notice that his left hand had no rings on it, and feel my heart soar, before I was in his arms and he was spinning me around. I felt a weight life noticeably off my shoulders. If he was hugging me and spinning me around, that was a good thing, right?

"Max." He said again as he put me down, I looked up at him from my place in his arms. "I'm sorry." He said quietly, I realized that this was hard for him, he still didn't like to show his emotions, he was still my rock. "I'm so so sorry." He looked down at me with a pained expression on his face.

I slapped him.

Ok so I admit, it wasn't such a great idea, but the jerk really hurt me!

He raised his hand to his smarting cheek and looked down at me, a faint smile on his face. "I deserved that." He said seriously, and I couldn't help it, I kissed him.

He seemed shocked at first, but then he got into. It was amazing, just like we were teenagers again. His arms wrapped around my waist and held me tightly and my hands went to his face, cupping his cheeks and pulling him closer. This was so much better than I remembered. All too soon, we had to halt the kiss for oxygen, but he only pulled away far enough to rest his forehead on mine.

"I love you." He whispered, his warm breath washing over my face. And it was that moment that I knew that even though everything wasn't perfect, and we still had a long way to go before everything between us could be healed, I knew that eventually, we would be ok. Because I loved Fang, and he loved me back.


End file.
